Red Hook Black

Luis Landivar's third film, RED HOOK BLACK (89 minutes) a story of two friends, Marco (Kyle Fields) and Damian (James Jackson) one white, one black, former high school football teammates who try to find a place for themselves as men in a neighborhood they no longer recognize Red Hook, Brooklyn. As each tries to move forward, economic and family obligations pull them back. Marco lives in the past, trying to hang on to his life as a longshoreman. His wife Elizabeth (Victoria Negri) suffers from Multiple Sclerosis and her niece, Olivia (Danielle Lozeau), who lives with them, has her eyes fixed on escaping Brooklyn and taking uncle Marco with her as her lover. Marco loses his patience with his wife's needs and falls for Olivia's allure. Damien, a much more stable and resourceful man, has momentum. He's found a good job and a new love after a painful divorce; but he is pulled down by his stoned out younger brother, Melvin (Keith Walker), a would be actor who is always on the verge of something and amounting to nothing. In these hard economic times any change or go their own way presents a risk that may be insurmountable. The over-arching question for all of these characters is whether they should cut their losses and move on or settle for the little security they do have.